8 January 1954 31
The Atomic Change-over
IN accordance with the recent Order in Council, Ministerial A
responsibility for atomic energy passed, on January 1st, from
the Minister of Supply to the Lord President of the Council. On
the change taking place, Mr. Duncan Sandys, die Minister of
Supply, issued the following message to all members of the staff
of the Atomic Energy Organization: —
"I wish warmly to thank you for the contribution which all of
you have made, individually and collectively, to the development
of atomic power for both military and civil purposes.
"Together with your colleagues in America, many of you took
part in the design of the first atomic bomb during the war. Since
then, working on your own, you have developed, proved and
brought into production, British atomic weapons of more advanced
types. At the same time you have made remarkable progress in
applying the forces of nuclear fission to peaceful ends, thus open
ing up to this and future generations an ever-expanding prospect
of material betterment.
"In the whole history of mankind through the ages, there have
been comparatively few discoveries of a really fundamental
character. Among these will certainly rank the discovery of how
to release and exploit the unbounded energy which, since the dawn
of time, has remained hidden in the nucleus of the atom.
"You have a right to feel very proud of having played some
part, whether great or small, in these momentous achievements."
THE British aircraft industry was often maligned in regard to matters of production, contended Sir Thomas Sopwith, C.B.E., chairman of the Hawker Siddeley Group,
in his address to shareholders at the eighteenth annual general
meeting on January 6th. "People tell us," he said, "that we know
how to build prototypes—the finest in the world—but they say
that when it comes to producing aeroplanes in quantity we fall
behind the standard set in America."
This, he maintained, was not true. The Ministry of Supply,
and leading American constructors themselves, agreed that the
time-lag between the conception of an aeroplane and the day
when it was in squadron service was about the same here as
it was in the United States. In rate of production the United
States had a lead, because their orders were larger and more
extensive jig and tool equipment could be installed. This was
a mixed blessing, as it led to a loss of flexibility for incorporating
improvements and modifications. In some cases the Americans
ignored modifications during construction and delivered the
finished aircraft to a centre, where they could be taken apart and
rebuilt. Such a procedure, which inflated the apparent rate of
delivery as compared with that in the United Kingdom, would
not be acceptable in this country, where modifications were built
into the aircraft while they were still on the production lines.
Sir Thomas went on to plead that the production side should
receive more consideration on the part of young men. "The
best brains and the best apprentices," he said, "so often seem
to be attracted by the glamour of research and design." Pro
duction was equally interesting, and the rewards just as attractive.
Production arrangements for the Avro Vulcan were well estab
lished, said Sir Thomas, and a considerable number of flying
hours had been recorded by the two prototypes. The "new
Avro dual-control delta" [Type 707C—Ed.] was now in the
hands of the R.A.F. for extensive flight tests.
Referring to S/L. Neville Duke's air speed record in the
Hawker Hunter, Sir Thomas said that the Group did not intend
to make another attempt at the moment as all resources were
being concentrated on the production drive. It was a high
tribute, he said, that by far the greatest number of "off-shore"
machines ordered were Hunters and Sea Hawks.
Flight development of the Mk 2 Hunter was proceeding satis
factorily, and all production of this mark would be handled by
Armstrong Whitworth. The building-up of Hawker Aircraft
(Blackpool) Ltd., who were sharing in Hunter production, was
progressing well. At Armstrong Whitworth the transonic wind
tunnel was now in full working condition, and that company's
larger supersonic tunnel would be completed in a few months.
At Gloster Aircraft, Meteor production—now in its eleventh
year—would fade out during the coming twelve months, when
upwards of 3,000 would have been produced. Development of
the Javelin prototypes continued and production was "well in
hand." Avro Canada had completed its Mk 3 CF-100 contract,
and production of the rocket-firing Mk 4, described by Sir
Thomas as "the most heavily armed aircraft in the world,"
followed immediately. Avro Canada had under development
"new and advanced aircraft of quite unusual characteristics and
revolutionary performance."
Having referred to the aircraft division of Air Service Training
as "a most valuable production unit," and to the orders for
PANHANDLER: The curious little Hiller HJ-1 (U.S. Army designation,
YH-32) is now flying. Two Hiller blade-tip ramjets, each of 32-lb
thrust, supply the power; rotor diameter is 23ft, all-up weight 1,200 lb
and maximum speed 76 m.p.h. A small tail-rotor supplants the rotor-
downwash rudder used on the tip-jet Hiller Hornet.
Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire, Mamba, Double Mamba, Python
and Viper, Sir Thomas went on to refer to Sapphire production
by the Brockworth Engineering Co., Ltd. This, he said, had
assisted Armstrong Siddeley in their production programme and
had helped them in concentrating their effort on general research
and development. At Avro Canada, Orenda production had
been maintained on schedule and very large numbers had been
produced. Design was under way on "a more advanced and
powerful engine."
Discussing guided weapon activities at Armstrong Whit
worth, Sir Thomas said that during the year under review satis
factory results had been obtained with advanced types of
weapons equipped with "electric and electronic apparatus." "As
you will realize," he said, "the flight-testing of these missiles is
not the easiest of tasks, and, in order to take advantage of the
excellent development facilities in Australia, an organization is
being established at the Woomera Rocket Range. The advance
party of key personnel is already in Australia." Sir Thomas
went on to forecast "with every confidence" that the company
would have a major share in the design, development and pro
duction of missiles. To those who prophesied that the day of the
piloted aircraft was drawing to a close he pointed out that many
of the missiles now under development were designed to be
fired from piloted aeroplanes.
Although aircraft and rearmament contracts had been cur
tailed, High Duty Alloys had already gone a long way to restab-
lishing themselves in civil and export markets, and the com
pany had made an outstanding contribution to the production
of axial-compressor engines by the development and production
of close-to-form compressor blades. *
Air Service Training continued to train considerable numbers
of overseas students, and the courses in marine radio and radar
were attracting increasing numbers of British youth. Unfor
tunately a change in Air Ministry policy had led to the can
cellation of all ab initio Service training contracts. "I view this
change in Air Ministry policy," said Sir Thomas, "with grave
misgivings, as it will affect the supply of pilots from our civil
Corporations and airline companies. From now on only National
Servicemen who are selected and sign on for regular or short-
service commissions will be given the kind of flying training
that is required. When they are ready to turn to civil flying
they will be too old. The position is serious. It demands action,
prompt and decisive, on the part of the Government."
Although work was already in progress on machines which
would replace the "rising generation" of aircraft, it was essential.
Sir Thomas went on, that the Government should follow a bold
policy in ordering adequate quantities of types available now.
Reviewing the Group's trading results, the chairman reported
that profits for the year ended July 31st, 1953, after deducting
reserve for increased replacement cost of fixed assets, amounted
to £5,033,744, as compared with £5,184,552 for the previous
year. Turning to the consolidated balance-sheet he pointed out
that, after the provision of £1,775,551 for depreciation, fixed
assets showed an increase of nearly £8 million. The board was
recommending a final dividend of 9 per cent, less tax, making,
with the interim dividend already paid, a total dividend for the
year of 15 per cent, less tax. This compared with a total dis
tribution last year of 10 per cent, less tax.
SIR THOMAS SOPWITH ON "THE GROUP'S" YEAR